KFO 256:  Mechanisms of Disturbed Emotion Processing in Borderline Personality Disorder

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: from 2011 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 190034061

The Clinical Research Unit (CRU) 256 at Heidelberg University was implemented in 2012 to study the neuro-behavioral underpinnings of emotion dysregulation in borderline personality disorder (BPD). BPD is characterized by severe functional impairments, a high risk of suicide, extensive use of treatment, harm to others, and high costs to society. Current theories view dysfunctions in emotion processing and social interaction as core mechanisms of BPD. This often leads to prototypical behavioral patterns such as non-suicidal self-injury, high-risk behavior, and impulsive aggression. Research on psychological and neural mechanisms of BPD points towards an interplay between dysfunctional information processing, impairments of fronto-limbic circuits, and learned maladaptive behaviors.The CRU 256 brings together the competences of seven workgroups, each with a strong international reputation in BPD research and/or excellent methodological expertise in neuropsychology, neuroimaging, and translational neuroscience. The overall aims of the CRU are to characterize subcomponents of dysfunctional emotion processing and social interaction in BPD and to develop mechanism based individualized treatments. During the first funding period of the CRU, we were successful in disentangling the complexity of these components and in studying them at an experimental level. We found significant group differences between healthy controls and BPD patients in distinct domains such as social expectations, signal detection, emotion activation and regulation, pain processing, and interactive behaviors.We can now use the findings of the first funding period to design interventions that target BPDspecific mechanisms of emotion dysregulation and social interaction. In the individual projects (IP) 1, 2, and 5 in particular, new psychological treatment approaches will be tested within randomized controlled trials. IP8 will test the pharmacological modulation of mechanisms identified in the first funding period. The animal model (IP7) aims to modify central neurotransmitter systems related to the early experience of social rejection by viral mediated gene transfer. In addition, we will continue the studies on disturbed mechanisms in BPD, including investigating enhanced threat sensitivity, reduced intensity in the perception of happy faces and its relation to maladaptive social functioning (IP1, IP8), basal neural alterations of reciprocity (IP3), neural mechanisms of dissociation (IP4), and the role of seeing blood in the context of self-injurious behavior (IP6). Two associated projects (AP1 and AP2), which will be funded by other sources, focus on social information processing and the endocannabinoid system.The funding of this CRU provides the basis for an ongoing BPD research platform at Heidelberg University that will be of critical importance to the international field of research on borderline personality disorder, social interaction, and emotion regulation.

• DFG Programme: Clinical Research Units

Projects

• Biobehavioral mechanisms underlying reacitve aggression in BPD: Validation and pharmacological modulation (Applicants Bertsch, Ph.D., Katja ;  Herpertz, Sabine C. )
• Central Project 1 - Coordination, Administration, and Public Relations of the Clinical Research Unit (Applicant Schmahl, Christian )
• Central Project 2 - Central Recruitment and Assessment (Applicants Bohus, Martin ;  Herpertz, Sabine C. )
• Characteristics and Training of Neural Responding in BPD (Applicant Ende, Gabriele )
• Hypersensitivity to Social Threat, Anger, and Aggression in BPD (Applicants Bertsch, Ph.D., Katja ;  Herpertz, Sabine C. )
• Neural Mechanisms of Trust and Dyadic Interaction in BPD (Applicants Kirsch, Peter ;  Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas )
• Neurobiological and Psychological Reaction Patterns in Response to Social Rejection in BPD (Applicants Bohus, Martin ;  Lis, Stefanie )
• Neurobiological Consequences and Mechanisms of Early Social Rejection Experiences in an Animal Model with relevance for Borderline Personality Disorder (Applicant Spanagel, Rainer )
• Sensory-affective Interaction and Body Perception in BPD (Applicants Bekrater-Bodmann, Robin ;  Flor, Herta )
• Tissue Damage and Pain - Modelling Cutting Behavior in BPD (Applicants Baumgärtner, Ulf ;  Ende, Gabriele ;  Schmahl, Christian )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Martin Bohus
• Deputy: Professorin Dr. Sabine C. Herpertz
• Leader: Professor Dr. Christian Schmahl